OBJECTIVES: Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia, affecting more than 4.5 million people in Europe. Owing to recent introduction of novel oral anticoagulant (NOACs) treatments in Germany, there is a need to generate real-world evidence on the profiles of patients with NVAF prescribed with such therapies. This study aimed to describe demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with NVAF newly prescribed NOACs in Germany. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study of patients with NVAF who were newly prescribed with NOACs (index prescription) between December 2012 and October 2014, using German primary care data from IMS Disease Analyzer. We calculated summary statistics of demographic and clinical characteristics in each NOAC therapy group. RESULTS: Overall, 2,678 patients initiated apixaban, 2,696 dabigatran, and 9,562 rivaroxaban in the study period. At time of index NOAC initiation, mean age was 75.9 years (standard deviation 10.0; interquartile range 71-83) for apixaban, 74.5 (SD 10.3; IQR 69-82) for dabigatran, and 74.7 (SD 10.4; IQR 69-82) for rivaroxaban. Across all NOAC therapies, around half were men and approximately 80% lived in West Germany. Patients on apixaban had higher rates of stroke risk factors such as hypertension (88.2% vs. 86.4% and 85.4% for dabigatran and rivaroxaban, respectively); vascular diseases (61.3% vs. 57.2% and 58.5%); and congestive heart failure (43.5% vs. 39.6% and 40.9%); and higher rate of bleeding history (30.0% vs. 27.1% and 27.8%). CONCLUSIONS: In routine clinical practice in Germany, patients newly treated with NOACs were elderly and frequently had comorbidities of cardiovascular importance such as hypertension and vascular diseases. Patients on apixaban had higher rates of stroke risk factors and bleeding history, which are likely to impact treatment patterns and outcomes observed in this population. Future comparative effectiveness research across NOACs should account for channeling in patient profiles.